moviefanonfandomcom-20200214-history
The Jungle Book (2023 film)
The Jungle Book is a 2023 American computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Owen Laramore Productions and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 4th theatrical Owen Laramore Entertainment film, it is an entirely computer-animated remake of Disney's 1967 traditionally-animated film of the same name. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film features the voices of Jack Dylan Grazer, Tom Hanks, Zak Orth, Jonathan Pryce, Andy Serkis, Toby Jones, Harrison Ford, Karen Gillan, Stanley Tucci, and Barry Humphries. After mixed critical reaction to ''Disney Continental Drift'', Owen Laramore Entertainment was tasked with creating a CGI feature based on one of Walt Disney's works. The technical team and animators found new ways to render fur and cloth realistically for the film. Alan Silvestri, who contributes to many of Zemeckis' films, composed the music for the film. Released theatrically in the United States on January 21, 2023, The Jungle Book earned $443 million on a $95 million budget, and received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its animation, music, voice acting, and faithfulness to the 1967 film and the source material. The success of the film prompted the studio to announce more CGI adaptations of Walt Disney's works. Plot In the jungles of India, Bagheera the panther finds a man cub named Mowgli stranded in the jungle and takes him to the wolves to be raised. Ten years later, Shere Khan the tiger returns to the wolf pack's part of the jungle. Their leader, Akela, declares it would be best for the boy to leave the jungle for his and their own safety. Bagheera informs Akela of a man village where he will be safe, and decides to take him there. In a tree, Kaa the sly python tries to eat Mowgli, but Bagheera intervenes. The next morning, Mowgli befriends Colonel Hathi and the elephants. Mowgli prefers to stay in the jungle, but Bagheera, knowing that Shere Khan will kill him, tries to get him to let go of a tree, but falls into a stream and decides to leave Mowgli on his own. A bear named Baloo befriends Mowgli and teaches him the Bare Necessities, a way to live a life of ease. Mowgli disappears and gets abducted by monkeys. Witnessing this, Kaa informs Bagheera and Baloo that Mowgli is being taken to King Louie the orangutan. As King Louie offers to let Mowgli stay in the jungle, Baloo, Bagheera, and Kaa rescue Mowgli. That night, Bagheera tells Baloo that Mowgli belongs in the man village. Baloo reluctantly explains to Mowgli that he has to take him back to the man village. Upset at this, Mowgli runs off into the jungle, abandoning Baloo. A group of vultures befriend Mowgli and accept him as a fellow outcast. Shere Khan arrives and attacks Mowgli. Realizing that Mowgli needs help, Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa, and King Louie arrive. Baloo and Bagheera fend off Shere Khan while Kaa and King Louie help Mowgli make a torch of fire and tie it onto his tail, sending the tiger away. Mowgli is still hesitant to go to the man village, but his mind is change, when he is smitten by a singing girl fetching the water. Mowgli and the girl head into the man village together. Bagheera and Baloo head back to the jungle, happy that Mowgli is safe and content with his own kind. Cast * Jack Dylan Grazer as Mowgli * Tom Hanks as Baloo * Zak Orth as Bagheera * Jonathan Pryce as Shere Khan * Andy Serkis as Kaa * Toby Jones as King Louie * Harrison Ford as Akela * Karen Gillan as Mother Wolf * Stanley Tucci as Father Wolf * Barry Humphries as Colonel Hathi * Jacki Weaver as Winifred * Pierce Gagnon as Hathi Jr. * Jim Hanks, Tim Roth, Michael C. Hall, and Scott Eastwood as vultures * Peter Cullen as gloomy elephant * Mike White as slob elephant * Dee Bradley Baker as Flunkey the langur * Carlos Alazraqui, Eric Bauza, and Roger Craig Smith as monkeys * Tara Strong as the girl Production Development After the release of Disney Continental Drift, Disney revealed that Owen Laramore Entertainment was making CGI remakes of Walt Disney's works, starting with one for The Jungle Book. In the process of having a director, Robert Zemeckis stepped in, becoming Owen Laramore Entertainment's second outside director. Animation was challenging; the animators found new ways to render realistic fur and cloth. Casting Jack Dylan Grazer was the first actor Zemeckis asked to perform Mowgli, to which his voice was starting to feel very deepened, and voiced the character under only minor financial constraints. Later, Tom Hanks was revealed to be the voice of Baloo. Zak Orth, Jonathan Pryce, Andy Serkis, Toby Jones, Harrison Ford, and Barry Humphries joined the cast as Bagheera, Shere Khan, Kaa, King Louie, Akela, and Colonel Hathi, respectively. Stanley Tucci and Karen Gillan joined the cast as Mowgli's wolf parents. Music Alan Silvestri composed the musical score. Zemeckis said he hired Silvestri because he wanted an animated film with a longtime director to be composed by his longtime fellow composer. Silvestri also composed the songs with Mark Watters. Reception Box office The film grossed $140 million the United States and Canada, and $303 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $443 million. Critical response The Jungle Book has a 78% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus reads, "Thrilling and heartwarming to the classic film, The Jungle Book marks a successful CGI remake debut for Owen Laramore Entertainment". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, calculated a score of 77 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A" on a A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a score of 77% and a 70% "definite recommend". James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film a positive review, saying, "Even catchier, The Jungle Book lets Owen Laramore Entertainment get its groove on". Tim Grierson of ScreenDaily ''gave the film four and a half stars. Mike Ryan of ''Uproxx gave the film "Two Thumbs Up". Christopher Orr of The Atlantic said the film had a lot of musical numbers and a good overture, and commended the performance of Tom Hanks as Baloo the bear.